Structural unit

ABSTRACT

TO PROVIDE A STRUCTURAL UNIT FOR A TRANSPORTABE HOUSE, THREE VERTICAL SUPPORT BEAMS FORMING A TRIANGLE SUPPORT A STABLE STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK WHICH INCLUDES A ROOF STRUCTURE AND A PLURALITY OF SIDE WALL SUPPORTING BEAMS EXTENDING IN VERTICAL PLANES FROM HORIZONTAL STRUTS OF THE ROOF STRUCTURE. THE ROOF STRUCTURE COMPRISES THREE OBLIQUELY EXTENDING MAIN ROOF SUPPORTING TRUSSES SUPPORTED ON THE SUPPORT BEAMS, AND THE STRUTS WHICH EXTEND CIRCUMFERENTIALLY AND HAVE THEIR ENDS INTERCONNECTED. THE STRUTS ARE ADJACENT THE OUTER ENDS OF THE TRUSSES AND EXTEND TRANSVERSELY THERETO.

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STRUCTURAL UNIT Filed Aug. 25, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORI UnitedStates Patent O 3,562,974 STRUCTURAL UNIT Heinrich Niemeyer, Tnbingen,Germany, assgnor to Wilhelm Schilling, Weiskirchen, Germany Filed Aug.25, 1969, Ser. No. 852,540 Claims priority, application Germany, Aug.29, 1968, P 17 84 632.1 Int. Cl. E04b 1/34; E04h 1/00 U.S. Cl. 52-73 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE To provide a structural unit for atransportable house, three vertical support beams forming a trianglesupport a stable structural framework which includes a roof structureand a plurality of side wall supporting beams extending in verticalplanes from horizontal struts of the roof structure. The roof structurecomprises three obliquely extending main roof supporting trussessupported on the support beams, and the struts which extendcircumferentially and have their ends interconnected. The struts areadjacent the outer ends of the trusses and extend transversely thereto.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toa structural unit for a transportable house. The unit comprises threevertical support beams forming a triangle and adapted to be fixed incorresponding foundation sockets at the site of the house, and a stablestructural framework supported on the support beams.

Houses mounted on such foundations by means of the support beams off theground have the advantage of not only eliminating the need for elaborateand expensive foundations for the house but making it possible toprefabricate the unit and to transport the prefabricated unit to anydesired site where it may be readily placed in position by means of acrane. Furthermore, the surface prole of the site on which a house iserected on stilt-like support beams does not interfere with the erectionof the house. All that is needed are three foundation sockets to receivethe support beams.

A problem in devising a satisfactory structural unit for this purposeresides in obtaining proper stability and a stable support for theself-supporting framework of the unit on the support beams. Alsoimportant is the placement of the gas, electric, water and sewer lineswithin the framework in such a manner that they remain hidden and do notdisadvantageously affect the architectural appearance of the house.

It is the primary object of this invention to solve these problems andto provide a stable, self-supporting 'structural framework, which may beprefabricated and which may be formed into a statically balanced,securely connected structural unit by xing the framework on the threesupport beams at the site selected for the house.

It is also an object of the invention to arrange the support beamscentrally in respect of the structural framework, that the support beamsdo not or only in a minor fashion interfere with the lay-out of therooms, and to permit ready and unencumbered placement of the utilitysupply lines for the house.

The above and other objects are accomplished in accordance with thepresent invention with a structural framework which includes a roofstructure comprising three obliquely extending main roof supportingtrusses supported on the vertical support beams or stilts andcircumferentially extending horizontal struts having their 3,562,974Patented Feb. 16, 1971 ICC ends connected to the ends of adjacentstruts. The struts are adjacent the outer ends of the trusses and extendtransversely thereto. The framework also includes a plurality of sidewall supporting beams depending from the struts whereon they aresupported independently of the vertical support beams.

In this manner, the structural framework is supported on the supportbeams, which may be of steel, without the side wall supporting beamsbeing supported thereby. Rather, the support beams extend freely throughthe central portion of the framework, and the roof structure issupported in a statically balanced manner on the tops of the supportbeams. Thus, the point of gravity of the house is relatively low inrespect of the support, which considerably adds to the stability of ahouse supported only at three points forming a triangle. Furthermore,one of the three centrally located support beams may be readily used forbringing in the utility lines, and such rooms as bathrooms, the kitchenand other rooms requiring water may be located adjacent the one supportbeam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The above and other objects, advantages andfeatures of this invention will become more apparent by reference to thefollowing detailed description of two now preferred embodiments thereof,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein FIG. l is aschematic perspective top view of a structural unit according to oneembodiment and also showing some of the inside of a transportable housebuilt with such a unit;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an installed house with thestructural unit of FIG. 1, partly in section; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective top view of a structural unitaccording to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawing and first to FIG. l,there is shown a structural unit wherein the connection between thevertical support beams and the roof structure provides great stability.This is accomplished by suitably interrelating the positioning of theroof supporting trusses and bracing elements for the roof structure toeach other and to the support points of the trusses on the supportbeams.

As shown, the structural framework 1 rests on three vertical supportbeams 2 which form an equilateral triangle. The framework 1 includes theroof structure 3 which comprises three obliquely extending main roofsupporting trusses 4 which meet their inner ends at a point in avertical axis passing through the center of the triangle. The trussesextend outwardly and downwardly from the center under the same angle.The roof structure also comprises eircumferentially extending horizontalstruts 7 having their ends connected to the ends of adjacent struts toform a polygon. The struts are adjacent the outer ends of the trussesand extend generally transversely thereto. A plurality of upright sidewall supporting beams 8 depend from the struts 7 whereon they aresupported independently of the vertical support beams 2, the lower endsof the beams 8 being interconnected by base struts 9. As best seen inFIG. 2, the side wall supporting beams (and the side walls of the house)are inwardly inclined in the embodiment of FIG. l so that the base ofthe house is smaller than the roof.

In the roof structure, respective ones of the trusses 4 are supported onrespective ones of the support beams 2 at points intermediate theirends. The support points have the same distance from the center axis. Abrace 18 extends between the outer end of each truss and the associatedsupport beam 2.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the struts 7 are connected to associatedtrusses 4 at their midpoints, and pairs of stitfening braces 5, 6 extendfrom the midpoints to respective support points of adjacent trusses 4.

This structural framework forms a stable, self-supporting structurewhich rests on three symmetrically distributed support points on thesupport beams 2 which extend upwardly through the framework. The weightof the framework 1 and of the house is distributed over the supportbeams not only through their tops on which the trusses 4 rest and towhich the stiitening braces 5, 6 extend but also through their sideswhich receive the Weight through the horizontal braces 18 which areunder compressive stress.

The house is thus suspended from the support beams which support theroof structure and whence the side walls depend, rather than the ba ofthe house being supported on the beams in the conventional manner. Sincethe house thus hangs from the roof, its center of gravity is very low inrespect of its support. Also, in view of the central location of thesupport beams 2, the unsupported lengths of the trusses and braces ofthe framework are relatively short so that structural elements ofrelatively small gages suice to provide a strong structure, whichreduces the costs and the weight.

In the illustrated embodiments, each support beam 2 is of triangularshape, with a long base of the triangular beam extending vertically andfacing inwardly towards the center and the two sides meeting at an apexin contact with an associated brace 18. The support beams and theirassociated braces extend in common planes extending through the centeraxis. In this manner, the support beams are reinforced at the pointwhere relatively strong bending stresses occur.

Additional stiffening braces 17 extend between adjacent support pointsof the trusses 4. It will be noted that the stiffening braces 5, 6 and17 increase the stiffness of the roof structure without undulyincreasing its weight. They define therebetween subdivided, smaller roofareas which may be readily covered by roong material of relatively smallareas.

The horizontal struts 7 form a hexagon in the illustrated embodimentswhich cornes relatively close to a circle which, as is known,constitutes the largest area for a given circumference, thus providingmaximum living space in the house.

It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the room iloors 10, 11, 12 as well asthe room walls 13, 14, 15 may be positioned totally independently fromthe static requirements of the framework so that the house may be laidout without concern to such requirements. For instance, the iloors mayrise stepwise from the first to the second floor of the house, asillustrated, to make a staircase unnecessary, or escalators 16 may beprovided, if desired.

While the statics of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 3 are substantiallyidentical, the form of the structural framework 1 is substantialy thatof a tent coming to a point while the embodiment of FIG. 3 shows aframework 1' which comes closer to that of a hemisphere which, as isknown, provides maximum space or volume within its contines.

The base of both frameworks is a hexagon formed by the circumferentiallyextending struts 7, 9 and 7', 9. But while the trusses 4 meet in a pointon the center axis and the roof structure is stabilized by horizontalbraces 17 extending between adjacent support points of the trusses belowthe apex of the roof structure, the trusses 4 extend only to suchsupport points, with the horizontal braces 17 forming a ilat triangulartop of the roof structure.

As appears particularly on the right half of FIG. 2, dishedthree-dimensional roof surfaces are formed between adjacent trusses and/or braces of the roof structure, and roofing materials of such structuremay be relatively light and yet will have the same stability andload-carrying capacity as roofings of heavier gage.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the outer ends of the trusses 4 areconnected to alternate corners of the hexagon formed by the horizontalstruts 7' and respective trusses are supported on respective supportbeams 2, as in the embodiment of FIG. l. Pairs of stiffening braces 5',6 extend between the corners of the hexagon between the alternatecorners and respective support points of adjacent trusses 4 on thesupport beams 2.

In contrast to the embodiment of FIG. l, where the base struts 9 areparallel to the struts 7, the six horizontally extending base struts 9',which extend in the planes of the associated side wall supporting beams8a, 8b, form a hexagon of the same size as the hexagon formed by thestruts 7' but the hexagons are angularly displaced by 30 in respect ofeach other. The side Wall supporting beams 8a, l8b extend obliquelybetween the corners of the hexagons.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 provides living space of the same size at areduced use of building materials without in any way reducing thestability of the structure.

What is claimed is:

1. A structural unit for a transportable house, comprising (l) threevertical support beams forming a triangle;

and

(2) a stable structural framework supported on the support beams, theframework including (a) a root` structure comprising three obliquelyextending main roof supporting trusses having inner and outer ends, thetrusses being supported on the vertical support beams, the support beamsextending upwardly through the framework, and circumferentiallyextending horizontal struts having their ends connected to the ends ofadjacent struts, the struts being adjacent the outer ends of the trussesand extending transversely thereto, and

(b) a plurality of side wall supporting beams depending from the strutswhereon they are supported independently of the vertical support beams.

2. The structural unit of claim 1, further comprising bracing elementsmounted between adjacent ones of the trusses.

3. The structural unit of claim 1, wherein the three vertical supportbeams form an equilateral triangle having a center, the three main roofsupporting trusses meet with their inner ends at a point in a verticalaxis passing through the center and extend outwardly and downwardlytherefrom under the same angle, respective ones of the trusses aresupported on respective ones of the support beams at points, the supportpoints having the same distance from said axis, and a brace extendsbetween the outer end of each truss and the associated one of thesupport beams.

4. The structural unit of claim 3, wherein each support beam is oftriangular shape, with a long base of the triangular beam extendingvertically and facing inwardly towards the center and the two sidesmeeting at an apex in contact with an associated ones of the braces, thesupport beams and their associated braces extending in common radialplanes extending through said axis.

5. The structural unit of claim 3, the struts being connected toassociated ones of the trusses at their midpoints, and furthercomprising pairs of stiifening braces extending from said midpoints torespective ones of the support points of adjacent ones of the trusses.

6. The structural unit of claim 3, further comprising additionalstiffening braces extending between respective ones of adjacent supportpoints of said trusses.

7. The structural unit of claim 1, wherein said horizontal struts form ahexagon.

8. The structural unit of claim 7, the outer ends of the trusses beingconnected to alternate corners of the hexagon and respective ones of thetrusses being supported on respective ones of `the support beams, andfurther comprising pairs of stiffening braces extending between thecorners of the hexagon between the alternate corners and respectivesupport points of adjacent ones of the trusses on the support beams.

9. The structural unit of claim 8, further comprising six horizontallyextending base struts in the planes of associated ones of the side wallsupporting beams, the base struts forming a hexagon of the same size asthe hexagon formed by the first-named horizontal struts, the hexagonsbeing angularly displaced by 30 in respect of each other, the side Wallsupporting bearns extending between the corners of the hexagons.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,017,893 1/1962 Greenbie 52-823,214,872 11/1965 Vogelgesang 52-236 3,255,990 6/1966 Williams 52-733,395,407 8/ 1968 Teschner 52-73 HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary ExaminerU.S. C1. X.R.

